Spring coil mattresses have been known in the art for many years, in which a layer of spring coils is covered with layers of soft material and enclosed in an outer cover. In recent years most commonly a foam is used, or natural and/or synthetic fibers. The rationale behind spring coil mattresses is that a layer of spring coils compresses according to a user's body weight and shape to provide the user with a comfortable undisturbed sleep. It is known to provide different sections where each section has a different level of firmness to accommodate more than one user. For example, Ayers, CA 2,223,750 discloses a unitary mattress assembly comprising spring coils, having two regions, the springs of which have pre-selected compressive strengths. However, while each individual is sleeping on a section of mattress of his/her own firmness preference, each individual may still feel the movements of the other person also lying on the same mattress, resulting in a disturbed sleep.
Mattress constructions have also been proposed where either a second zone of firmness or a space separates two zones of a mattress. Gladney, US Patent Application Publication 2005/0066446 discloses a mattress containing a longitudinal central zone of reduced firmness, between the two primary zones, with the purpose of avoiding the emergence of a central ridge in the mattress that would normally develop due to repeated use of the mattress. The central zone of reduced firmness may be manufactured from open coil springs, pocket springs and/or foam and may be supplemented by variations in the covering materials over that central zone. Damron, U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,168 discloses an independent suspension mattress that has an opening comprised of a discontinuity of the lateral rows of springs along part of a longitudinal centre line of the mattress, so as to provide some independence of sleeping sections on either side of the opening.
Other constructions include mattresses of different firmness zones where a divider or barrier separates the zones of differing firmness. Korney, U.S. Pat. No. 2,629,111 discloses a mattress comprising two longitudinal sections which are constructed as separate inner spring units, each enclosed within intermediate cover fabrics, and separated by a fabric partition. The mattress has outer covering materials which enclose the two units and to which the fabric partition is attached. England, US Patent Application Publication 2004/0255387 discloses a mattress with an accessible interior cavity in which a divider separates the interior cavity into lateral halves. Each of the lateral halves is operable to receive interchangeable auxiliary support members to provide a desired level of comfort for a user of each of the two halves of the mattress.
It is known to provide for variations in air pressure within sections of a mattress; and the use of a barrier with respect to an air mattress is disclosed in Schulte et al., PCT Publication WO 02/09554 which discloses a multi-chamber airbed intended to reduce the effect of weight movements by one or more persons sleeping on the airbed. The airbed comprises at least two independent chambers that are completely sealed off from each other by a barrier or septum connected to the top and bottom sheets of the airbed.
Although the above constructions physically separate the two sections of a mattress, each individual may still feel the movements of the other person also lying on the same spring coil mattress, resulting in a disturbed sleep. What is therefore needed is a spring coil mattress, which restricts or substantially eliminates the translation of a user's movement from one section of the mattress to another section of the mattress and also protects a user from injury or discomfort without restricting the user's ability to move across sections of the mattress.